Minnie Creek Prospects, Koyukuk Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Minnie Creek Prospects	Group of Prospects
Koyukuk Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Minnie Creek is a west-flowing tributary to the Middle Fork, Koyukuk River. It joins the Middle Fork about 0.75 mile north of Wiseman. Only the lower three miles or so of Minnie Creek are in the Wiseman quadrangle; the remainder of it's approximately 9-mile length is to the east in the Chandalar quadrangle. Although most indications of placer activity are on the part of the creek in the Chandalar quadrangle, the exact location of prospecting and/or mining are uncertain. This prospects are arbitrarily placed approximately 1 mile upstream from the mouth of Minnie Creek.
Geology: Minnie Creek reportedly was heavily prospected and locally drift mined in the early 1900's, but it is unclear as to exactly where on Minnie Creek this activity occurred (Reed, 1938). Water problems hindered excavation to bedrock and the early mining efforts were not very successful (Reed, 1938). A shaft to bedrock in 1904 reportedly produced $500 of 'shot' gold from a short drift before it was flooded. Drift mining was concentrated in a deep channel, although some gold was taken out at higher levels. No prospects were reported on the modern channel or on a high channel, although several high benches indicate the presence of a high channel. Limited evidence suggests that most mining activity on Minnie Creek has been on the middle and upper parts of the creek in the Chandalar quadrangle, although it is likely that at least some prospecting has occurred along the lower portion of the creek in the Wiseman quadrangle. A panned-concentrate sample from upper Minnie Creek (in the Wiseman quadrangle) contained 6,899 ppb gold (Kurtak and others, 1999).
Workings: Considerable prospecting and some drifting was reported in the early 1900's, but water above bedrock made prospecting and drift mining difficult (Mulligan, 1974).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: $1,000 worth of gold (about 49 ounces) was produced by 1909 (Maddren, 1913).

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	WI096

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References